1. Not planning ahead

Innovation is not part of the company's strategic plans because it has never been necessary until now. Therefore, the organization has no budget allocated to innovation.

2. Not knowing how to go about it

The thinking is done in an "insular" and homogeneous manner between team members. The methodology is absent or lacks rigor, and the clash of talents or different expertise is little considered.

3. Lack of empathy

Ego can take over the collective good. In the whole process of thinking and ideation, we must put our personal ego aside to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and thus ensure the success of the process. We must think about the users, not about looking good.

4. Lack of relevance

This is the main reason why an innovative solution dies, because it simply does not create value. We think of car locks with numbers (which freeze in winter and are less easy to use than automatic unlocking), the famous Segway (those single-seater electric transporters, which did not fill a real need for the price sold) and many other examples .

5. Underestimating preparation time

This is essential to properly analyze the motivations and irritants of a target group or user. Good preparation also helps to avoid falling into the trap of false good innovative ideas, not supported by relevant and quantitative data.

6. Underestimating the organization's value chain and resources

Departments within the company are not always adapted to work in innovation mode. Operations, production and finance sometimes do not have the freedom to demand changes in the way things are done internally. These old habits, which sometimes make us answer "I've always done it like that", instantly kill innovation.

7. Viewing innovation as an expense or a cost-cutting exercise

Rather, it should be seen as a value-creating investment for the future. Unfortunately, organizations tend too easily to handicap themselves with a short-term vision (which I call “corporate myopia”), which is harmful to innovation.

8. Thinking that an innovation is necessarily technological

It can be sometimes, but not always. The example of Chalk Soap, which won honors at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in 2018, is a great example. The greatest innovations are often very simple and strikingly relevant. The Indian brand Savlon has understood this well.

Growth as a global economic benchmark is compromised by several factors such as declining productivity, labour shortages and social inequality. This is why I am convinced that innovation should not be exclusively designed to produce and sell more. Nowadays, it must also improve an experience. In this way, it will have more value in the eyes of companies and their customers and sometimes, society in general. Our project Au cœur de toi , for the organization Enfants transgenres Canada, is a good example: inventing from scratch an educational tool to stop transphobia, before it starts.

Furthermore, if we want to make innovation more relevant in the 21st century, we must innovate responsibly, that is, without using new raw materials and without polluting by producing, consuming and disposing. We must stop the “kill, take, make, waste” because only 6% of the materials purchased and consumed are recycled into new products. Companies no longer have the choice today to be authentically more responsible, to the point of teaming up with competitors to convey the same message. Let’s just take the example of McDonald’s and Starbucks, which are teaming up to rethink recyclable and compostable coffee cups ( read in Fast Company ).

Innovation will be increasingly essential for leaders and entrepreneurs to enrich human experiences, but also ensure the relevance and sustainability of organizations.

So, do you have the skills to innovate well?

Watch the video portrait of Claude Auchu .